Good evening. I’d like to start off by thanking the Knights of Columbus for joining all of us together once again to honor our award recipients. The Hopewell Valley community is very fortunate to have this chapter of the Knights of Columbus among us, and I’d like to thank you all for the good work you do.
Determining the PFAS recipient for this year was an easy choice for us. One name kept coming up again and again – Naomi McCarty.
Naomi has been involved in the community as a long-time Pennington resident, a business owner in Hopewell Boro for many years, and as a devoted mother to her daughters. Naomi’s history of caring for others also goes back a long way – from her time as a nurse office manager, to her hospice work at Princeton, to her current work as the nurse at Westminster Coir College.
It was at Hospice in Princeton that Naomi’s path to joining PFAS began when the late Jessie Bailey, former long time PFAS captain, and Naomi’s coworker there, started pressing Naomi to take the EMT course. Jessie clearly saw that Naomi’s competence and caring towards others would make her a tremendous EMT. Naomi would eventually succumb to the pressure and enrolled in Dick and Jessie Bailey’s EMT course in Kingston, and in late 2003 she Joined PFAS.
In the years since, Naomi has been a fixture at the squad, A longtime member of Thursday night crew, as well as Assistant crew chief, Naomi has used her knowledge and experience to help develop many new EMTs as they joined her crew night. She has helped out countless ways, serving on committees, and becoming driver qualified on our ambulances. Naomi is the kind of person that is always willing to help out where help is needed, be that covering an opening in the schedule, or helping with the tasks that keep the squad running day to day.
A major example of this was when Naomi became Treasurer of the squad in late 2011 - a job that entails a lot of hard work and not enough recognition. For more than four years, Naomi kept careful track of the squad’s finances. Her work helped the squad maintain our service to the community as well as plan ahead for the future. I couldn’t count the number of times I saw Naomi coming and going in and out of the office, working on the treasurer’s report, or checking vouchers, or paying bills – the kind of behind the scenes work that keeps the squad going.
In a sad twist of fate, Jessie Bailey, Naomi’s former hospice coworker and former PFAS captain, found her health deteriorating. As Jessie’s condition worsened, Naomi used her years of expertise in hospice care to help Jessie through her illness, and to help Dick get through those rough times as well. Naomi’s devotion and effort went above and beyond the call of duty, and I know the Bailey’s were lucky to have Naomi by their side.
This all goes to show Naomi is truly one of the most caring people I can think of. She is always a warm presence at squad functions, always ready to help where she can, and is a friend and mentor to her fellow EMTs. Members like Naomi are the backbone of any volunteer organization like ours. That’s why I am proud to introduce her for this award.